DOCSLIB.ORG

The Road to Revolution LARRY R. GERLACH

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Road to Revolution LARRY R. GERLACH The Road to Revolution LARRY R. GERLACH :Be11i1 ~~~eit ~~~~ir"'I ;J:«~~il/¥icr~~~;,,:,~ ~ h ~~,,,v ".:'" '"t J~ 'ft,~* r~ '"d 1 ) ~' d~::~ c;~~ ".(iyt\;i, 'l'Y:;;; 7 01'. ,, t ~' t ~1 J~ " I l I NEW JERSEY'S REVOLUTIONARY EXPERIENCE Larry R. Gerlach, Editor I I I This series of publications is dedicated to the memory of Alfred E. Driscoll, governor of New Jersey from 1947 to 1954, in grateful tribute to his lifelong support of the study and teaching of the history of New Jersey and the United States. He was a member of the New Jersey Historical Commission from 1970 until his death on March 9, 1975. '!.I!~ I The Road to Revolution LARRY R. GERLACH New Jersey Historical Commission Ubtary of C-.-Cataloging In PubUcation Data Gerlach, I.any R The road to Revolution. (New Jersey's revolutionary e><perience; 71 Bibllography: p. SUMMARY: Traces the development of the independence movement in New JeJSey from 176310 the general brea.koutof hostilities in 1776. l. United States.-History-Revolution, 1775-1783-Causes. 2. New Jersey-History-Revo· lution, 1775-1783. [l. New Jersey-History-Revolution, 1775-1783. 2. United States-History - Revolution, 1 n5-1783 -Causes] I. Title. I!. Series. E263.NSN78 no. 7 [E210] 973.3'1 l 75-28186 Price:$.50 Designed by Peggy Lewis and Lee R. Parks Copyright"' 1975 by the New Jersey Historical Commission. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America 11IE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL COMMISSION is an official agency of the state of New Jersey, in the division of the State Library, Archives and History Department of Education. Fred G. Burke, Commissioner, Ralph H. Lataille, Deputy Commissioner. 113 West State Street, T renlon, NJ 08625 John T. Cunningham, Chairman • Henry N. Drewry, Vice-Chairman • Assemblyman Wilham J. Bate • Kenneth Q. Jennings • Assemblyman Thomas H. Kean • Richard P. McCormick • Senator Anne C. MartindeU • Eleanore N. Shuman •Donald A Sinclair• Senator James P. Vreeland, Jr. Ex Officio: David C. Palmer. Acting State Librarian • David N. Poinsett, State Supervisor of Historic Sites. PUBLISHED WITH A GRANT FROM THE NEW JERSEY AMERICAN REVOLUllON BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION COMMISSION Foreword New Jersey's Revolutionary Experience is a Bicentennial pamphlet series published by the New Jersey Historical Commis­ sion with a grant from the New Jersey Bicentennial Commission. The twenty-six numbers and two teachers' guides are intended to acquaint secondary school students and the general public with the state's history during the era of the American Revolution. Some titles treat aspects of the Revolution in New Jersey, while others show how important themes of the colonial period developed dur­ ing the revolutionary years; some bring together the results of existing scholarship, while others present the findings of original research; some are written by professional historians, and others by laymen whose investigations of Jersey history exceed avoca­ tion. Because the series is directed to a general audience, the pamphlets have no footnotes but contain bibliographical essays which offer suggestions for further reading. New Jersey's Revolutionary Experience is the product of a cooperative venture by numerous individuals and agencies. On my behalf and that of the pamphlets' readers, I accord recognition and appreciation to the individual authors for their contributions to New Jersey history, to the Nw Jersey American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration Commission and the New Jersey Histor­ ical Commission for their support of the project, to Hank Simon, president, Trentypo, Inc., for his invaluable suggestions and cooperation in producing the series, and to the staff of the His­ torical Commission: Richard Waldron, Public Programs Coordi­ nator, who as project director supervised the series from com­ mencement to completion; Peggy Lewis, Chief of Publications and Information, and Lee R. Parks, Assistant Editor, who edited and designed each number; and William C. Wright, Associate Director, who contributed valuable suggestions at every stage of production. Larry R. Gerlach University of Utah King George Ill on the Coronation Throne. This image of the young mon­ arch reflects the power of the British empire faced by rebellious Americans. Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Courtesy Royal Academy ofArts. ,, On July 4, 1776, Abraham Clark, delegate from New Jersey, took time out from the debate in the Continental Congress to write to a close friend. He informed Elias Dayton that Richard Henry Lee's resolution "to Declare the United Colonies Free and independent States" had been adopted on July 2 and that the formal declaration of American independence, written by another Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, "will this day pass Congress" and "be Proclaimed with all the State and Solemnity circumstances will admit." How was it that Clark, surveyor-landowner and sometime sheriff from Essex County, found himself at age fifty in Philadelphia launching the first anticolonial war for independence in modem history? How had Dayton, a thirty-nine-year-old Elizabethtown (modem Elizabeth) merchant who had fought for Great Britain dur­ ing the French and Indian War, come to direct military operations against the British army in northern New York as a colonel in the Third Battalion of New Jersey militia? Why did the recent course of imperial events make it necessary for Jerseymen to dissolve political ties with the mother country that had endured for more than a century? What were the "repeated injuries and usurpations" that prompted them to take up arms against George III? For what were they risking their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor?" In New Jersey, as elsewhere, the transition from dependent colony to independent state took place on two levels. First and foremost, Clark and like-minded Jerseymen willingly "embarked on a most Tempestuous Sea" with "Life very uncertain" and "danger Scattered thick Around" for the same reasons that their counterparts in other colonies chose independence instead of empire in the summer of 1776. During the past decade Americans from New Hampshire to Georgia, sharing common grievances against the British government and similar aspirations for a future experiment in republicanism, had forged a united front. But Clark and his cohorts in NevJ Jersey were more than supporting actors in the general drama of the coming of the Revolution. The colonies were not equally rebellious, dissatisfied with the imperial system for the same reasons, or identical in the manner of replacing the provincial government with a republican regime. Because the American Revolution was a product of thirteen individual rebellions as well as a general revolt against British authority, the role of New Jersey during the prerevolutionary era is both distinctive and representative of the experience of other colonies. Thus the origins of the American Revolution cannot be understood adequately without examining the peculiar nature of the protest-turned­ rebellion in each colony in the context of the larger intercolonial independence movement. On the eve of the American Revolution, New Jersey was a most unlikely candidate for rebellion. Though prosperous and stable, it was a small, dependent province. Ranking ninth in population (140,000 inhabitants) and tenth in territory(7,800 square miles) among the twelve mainland colonies and the Pennsylvania counties known as "Delaware," possessing little commercial manufacturing and scant direct import-export trade with Europe and other American provinces, and boasting no special cash crop such as timber or tobacco, New Jersey had little influence on intercolonial or imperial affairs. On the contrary, the well-being of the colony turned upon the British empire and neighboring colonies, especially New York and Pennsylvania. Moreover, the province lacked internal unity and integration. The diffuse, markedly rural population was rent by ethnic and religious disputes; the maintenance of two capitals, Burlington and Perth Amboy, and of regional balance in the provincial government were only the more obvious manifestations of the sectionalism that persisted after East and West Jersey merged into a single royal colony in 1702; the magnetic attraction of New York City and Philadelphia tended to divide the society between the Hudson and Delaware rivers; the absence of newspapers or province-wide political organiza· tions compounded the prevailing localism; and the fact that Elizabethtown, with approximately twelve hundred residents, was the largest community in the colony meant that there was no urban area to serve as the hub of social, economic, political, and cultural activities. Finally, apart from recurring squabbles over land, there were few sources of serious discontent in New Jersey. The imperial commercial codes had little impact on Jersey's agrarian economy. Ethnic and religious contentions existed primarily between West European Protestants, and except for the enslaved black Afri­ cans, who constituted 10-12 percent of the population, social and economic class lines were flexible. Additionally, a social structure dominated by generally prosperous middle-class yeoman farm­ ers, the rural nature of everyday life, the sizable Quaker element in the southwestern counties, and the inadequate transportation and communication facilities contributed to a conservative order. All in all, Jerseymen in 1763 had every reason to look with confidence to future imperial harmony and domestic tranquility. In that year the signing of the Treaty of Paris formalized the victory of Great Britain
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Of the Commemorative Ceremony-A Description
    .DOCUMENT RESUME . SO00947 9 : Commemoration,Ceremony in konor, of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the First ContinentalCongress in the United States House' of Representatives,September Twenty-Fifth, Nineteen Hundred andSeventy-Four. INSTITUTION Congress of the U.-$., Washington, D.C. House. 'REPORT NO 93-413 PUB:DATE 75 i NOTE 151p. Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office, Washington,.D.C. 20402 (stockno. -052-071-00432-7, $1.80) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.83 HC-$8.69 Plus Postage. -DESCRIPTORS American Culture; American Studies; Civics;*Colonial History (United States); ConstitutiOnal History; . Educational Resources; *FederalGovernment; Federal 'Programs; Government Publications; GovqrnmentRole; History Instruction; Political Influences;Political .Science; Politics; *Primary Sources;Roference Materials; Resource Materials;. RevolutionaryWar (United States); Social History; *supplcmentary Reading Materials; *United StatesHistelry IDENTIFIERS *Eicdntenniai; *Continental CongressOst) ABSTRACT This documen+ provides a report ofactivities undertaken at the first official bicentennialcelehrntion by the U.S. Congress in January 1974..The projectwas initiated .to provide commemoration of the First ContinentalCongress which met in Philadelphia in September 1774. The booldetpresents the proceedings of the commemorative ceremony-a descriptionof tiazo Old Guard Fife Drum Corps, and the Camerata Chorus Of Washington.In the major portion of the booklet, a documentaryhistory of the First Continental Congress is presented. Thethree sections
    [Show full text]
  • The First Continental Congress and the Problem of American Rights
    The First Continental Congress and the Problem of American Rights N OCTOBER 1774 JOSEPH GALLOWAY left the First Continental Congress frustrated and angry, sentiments he soon after expressed Ipublicly, accusing his opponents in Philadelphia of adopting "untenable principles, and thence rearing the most wild and chimerical superstructures." He condemned what he thought were the absurd arguments and baseless assertions made by his congressional adversaries as they debated Parliament's authority over the colonies and attempted to define American liberties in a Declaration of Rights. "Even the authors themselves," he complained bitterly, "finding that they have conveyed no satisfactory idea to the intelligent mind, of either the extent of parliamentary authority, or the rights of America, have exploded them, and taken new ground, which will be found to be equally indefensible." What is worse, they were leading America down the wrong path, "bewildered among the erroneous principles upon which her advocates have attempted in vain to support her rights."1 The men who had dominated Congress and pushed through the Declaration of Rights were duping the people and manipulating public opinion, groaned Galloway, convinced that congressional leaders only pretended to seek reconciliation when what they really wanted was independence. Explicitly he berated them for their inconsistency; implicitly he questioned their sincerity as well. Galloway was hardly the first to impugn both the motives and the logic of those who eventually became revolutionaries. General Thomas Gage had said much the same thing six years before. Writing from his New York headquarters he advised William Barrington, the secretary at war, that those 1 [Joseph Galloway], A Candid Examination of the Mutual Claims of Great-Britain, and the Colonies (New York, 1775), 2,3,24.
    [Show full text]
  • The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770 October 22, 2020
    October 22, 2020 The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770 October 22, 2020 propaganda - information designed to influence opinion committee of correspondence - an organization that used meetings, letters, and pamphlets to spread political ideas and resistance to British rule throughout the colonies October 22, 2020 October 22, 2020 October 22, 2020 October 22, 2020 October 22, 2020 The Boston Tea Party December 16, 1773 Tea Act of 1773 gave the British East India Company an unfair advantage selling tea in the colonies Colonists boycott the British tea In Boston, the Sons of Liberty board ships docked in Boston Harbor and dump over 300 chests of tea into the water October 22, 2020 PRICE OF TEA Before TEA ACT OF 1773 After October 22, 2020 King George III "We must master them or totally leave them alone" Coercive Acts • closed Boston Harbor • forced Bostonians to shelter British troops in public buildings and if necessary, private homes (quartering) • banned town meetings in Massachusetts Colonists called these laws the Intolerable Acts October 22, 2020 1st Continental Congress •meeting of 55 leaders from every colony but Georgia •met in September, 1774, in Philadelphia, PA •purpose was to establish political body to represent American interests and challenge British control Carpenter's Hall October 22, 2020 New Hampshire: John Sullivan, Nathaniel Folsom Who John Adams, Samuel Adams, Thomas Massachusetts Bay: Was Cushing, Robert Treat Paine Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, Samuel Ward There? Connecticut: Eliphalet Dyer, Roger Sherman, Silas Deane
    [Show full text]
  • Naval Documents of the American Revolution
    Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 4 AMERICAN THEATRE: Feb. 19, 1776–Apr. 17, 1776 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Feb. 1, 1776–May 25, 1776 AMERICAN THEATRE: Apr. 18, 1776–May 8, 1776 Part 4 of 7 United States Government Printing Office Washington, 1969 Electronically published by American Naval Records Society Bolton Landing, New York 2012 AS A WORK OF THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THIS PUBLICATION IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 590 AMERICAN THEATRE week. I hope he will take six guns to fortify himself against the small tender he may fear. I am [kc.] 1. "Nicholas Cooke Correspondence," AAS Proceedings, New Series, XXXVI, 312-13. 31 Mar. (Sunday) [Quebec, January 1 - March 3 11 This successful defeat of the rebel^,^ while it animated and encouraged the beseiged, pointed out the necessity of observing the utmost vigilance; and the duty was very hard and constant through out the winter and the Spring; for as the Snows fall frequently and heavily during that Season, a number of men were often employed, besides the guard, to clear the Great Guns from it, and so deep was it at times, that the Officers in going their rounds were frequently up to the middle of it; and were obliged to wear leg- gins and other contrivances to defend themselves against the severity of the cold. The Prisoners who had been treated with a lenity which they ill de- served, attempted to corrupt the Sentinels appointed to guard them; but a discovery being made in time, their purpose was frustrated - They had fallen upon means of communicating their design to their
    [Show full text]
  • TABLE of CONTENTS Volume 1
    TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume 1 Preface ................................................................................................................................................xvii Introduction ........................................................................................................................................xxv A Andrew Adams ...................................................................................................................................... 1 John Adams ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Samuel Adams ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Thomas Adams .................................................................................................................................... 18 Robert Alexander ................................................................................................................................. 19 Andrew Allen ....................................................................................................................................... 21 John Alsop ........................................................................................................................................... 24 Benjamin Andrew ................................................................................................................................ 27 Annapolis State
    [Show full text]
  • Of the United States Congress 1774-1989 Bicentennial Edition
    ONE HUNDREDTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION SENATE DOCUMENT NO. 100-34 BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS 1774-1989 BICENTENNIAL EDITION THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS SEPTEMBER 5, 1774, TO OCTOBER 21, 1788 and THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES FROM THE FIRST THROUGH THE ONE HUNDREDTH CONGRESSES MARCH 4, 1789, TO JANUARY 3, 1989, INCLUSIVE CLOSING DATE OF COMPILATION, JUNE 30, 1988 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1989 THIS PUBUCATION MAY BE PURCHASED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20402. STOCK NUMBER 052-071-00699-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data United States. Congress. Biographical directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989, the Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States, from the First through the One Hun- dredth Congresses, March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1989, inclusive. (Document I 100th Congress, 2nd session, Senate; no. 100-34) "Edited under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing. editors in chief, Kathryn Allamong Jacob, Bruce A. Ragsdale"p. 1. UnitedStates.Continental CongressBiographyDictionaries. 2. United States. CongressBiographyDictionaries.I. Jacob, Kathryn Allamong. II. Ragsdale, Bruce A.III. United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Printing. N. Title.V. Series: Senate document (United States. Congress. Senate); no. 100-34. JK1O1O.U51989 093.3'12'0922 [B] 88-600335 The paper used in this publication meets the minimumrequirements of the Joint Committee on Printing's Standard for UncoatedPermanent Printing Paper (JCP A270) and ANSI Standard Z39.48-1984. SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 85 NINETY-NINTH CONGRESS SUBMITTED BY MR.
    [Show full text]
  • Founding Fathers of the United States from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
    Founding Fathers of the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Founding Fathers of the United States are those individuals of the Thirteen Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the authority of the British Crown in word and deed and contributed to the establishment of the United States of America.[2] Historian Richard B. Morris in 1973 identified the following seven figures as the key Founding Fathers: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Trumbull's Declaration of Independence, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas a painting by John Trumbull depicting Jefferson, James Madison, and George the Committee of Five presenting their Washington.[3][4] Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin draft to the Congress on June 28, 1776.[1] were members of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay were authors of The Federalist Papers, advocating ratification of the Constitution. Jay, Adams and Franklin negotiated the Treaty of Paris (1783) that would end the American Revolutionary War.[5] Washington was Commander­in­Chief of the Continental Army and was President of the Constitutional Convention. Washington, Jay and Franklin are considered the Founding Fathers of U.S. Intelligence by the CIA.[6] All held additional important roles in the early government of the United States, with Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison serving as President. Four of these seven ­ Washington, Jay, Hamilton and Madison ­ did not sign the Declaration of Independence.[7] Signature page of Treaty of The term Founding Fathers is sometimes used to refer to Paris (1783); the treaty was the Signers of the embossed version of the Declaration of negotiated by John Adams, [8] Independence in 1776.
    [Show full text]
  • Bill of Rights: Letters to the American Colonists & to the British People
    MAKING THE REVOLUTION: AMERICA, 1763-1791 PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTION New York Public Library 1774 BILL OF RIGHTS LETTERS TO THE BRITISH & THE COLONISTS ISSUED BY THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1774 . EXCERPTS [BILL of RIGHTS] * The good people of the several colonies of New Hampshire, Massa- John Adams (Massachusetts Bay) chusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex on Dela- ware,1 Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina,2 justly alarmed at these arbitrary proceedings of Parliament and administration, have severally elected, constituted, and appointed deputies to meet and sit in general Congress in the city of Philadelphia in order to obtain such establishment as that their religion, laws, and liberties may not be sub- verted: Whereupon the deputies so appointed being now assembled in a full and free representation of these colonies, taking into their most serious consideration the best means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the first place as Englishmen, their ancestors in like cases have usually Samuel Adams (Massachusetts Bay) done, for asserting and vindicating their rights and liberties, DECLARE, That the inhabitants of the English colonies in North America, by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of the English constitution, and the several charters or compacts, have the following RIGHT S: Resolved, N. C. D3. 1. That they are entitled to life, liberty and property: and they have never ceded to any sovereign life, liberty, power whatever a right to dispose of either without their and property consent. Resolved, N. C. D.
    [Show full text]
  • Peter Force Papers and Collection [Finding Aid]. Library of Congress
    Peter Force Papers and Collection A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2014 Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms015011 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm80020990 Prepared by Carolyn Sung, Audrey Walker, and David Matthisen Revised and expanded by Patrick Kerwin and Kathleen O'Neill Collection Summary Title: Peter Force Papers and Collection Span Dates: 1492-1977 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1750-1868) ID No.: MSS20990 Creator: Force, Peter, 1790-1868 Extent: 150,000 items ; 770 containers plus 14 oversize ; 300 linear feet ; 168 microfilm reels Language: Collection material in English with some French, German and Spanish Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Antiquarian, historian, and mayor of Washington, D.C. Chiefly Force's personal papers and papers he collected for his nine-volume American Archives. Force's personal papers document his career as a Washington printer, newspaper editor, compiler, and collector. The collection records political, military, scientific, and social aspects of eighteenth and nineteenth century America. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Bancroft, George, 1800-1891--Correspondence. Bartlett, John, 1820-1905--Correspondence. Buchanan, James, 1791-1868--Correspondence. Clarke, M. St. Clair (Matthew St. Clair)--Correspondence. Drake, Samuel Gardner, 1798-1875--Correspondence.
    [Show full text]
  • New Jersey's Five Who Signed
    New jersey's Five Who Signed JOHN T. CUNNINGHAM NEW JERSEY'S REVOLUTIONARY EXPERIENCE Larry R. Gerlach, Editor This series of publications is dedicated to the memory of Alfred E. Driscoll, governor of New Jersey from 1947 to 1954, in grateful tribute to his lifelong support of the study and teaching of the history of New Jersey and the United States. He was a member of the New Jersey Historical Commission from 1970 until his death on March 9, 1975. 1 +I i !I I I New Jersey's Five Who Signed JOHN T. CUNNINGHAM New jersey Historical Commission U.....,ofC...,....~laPlabllallonDm. Cunningham, John T New Jemey's five "'1o signed. (New Jemey's RewfUllonaly e>cpedence; 6) Bibllogiaphy: p. SUMMARY: Discusses the varied l!ves and backgmund of the five men tied together In histoljl as the New Jeisey slgl18I$ of the Dec:faiation of Independence. 1. United StaWs. ~n 0t"1dependence-Signen;-New Jeisey. 2. New Jersey-Hlstoljl -Revolut!On, 1775-1783. [l. United States. Declaration of Jndependence-Signe1S. 2. New Jeisey-HistorY- Revolution, 1775-1783] I. lltle. Il. Sedes. E263.N5N78 no. 6 Df.2211973.31.3 75-30541 Plice:$.50 Designed by Peggy Lewis and Lee R. Parks CoJlllright '" 1975 by the New Jersey Historical Commission. All rights reserved. Pnnted in the United States of America DIE NEW JERSEY l:DSTORICAL COMMISSION is an offtdal agency of the state of New Jersey, tn the di"1sion of the State Ubtaljl, Archives and Histoljl Department of Education. Fred G. Burke, Commissioner; Ralph H. lataille, Deputy Commissioner. 113 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08625 John T.
    [Show full text]
  • Creating a 'Civilized Nation': Religion, Social Capital, and the Cultural
    Creating a ‘Civilized Nation’: Religion, Social Capital, and the Cultural Foundations of Early American State Formation DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Mark Boonshoft Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Professor John L. Brooke, Advisor Professor Margaret Newell Professor Randolph A. Roth Copyright by Mark Boonshoft 2015 Abstract From the very founding of the United States, education’s actual influence on American society has not measured up to Americans’ belief in education as a vehicle of meritocracy. Shortly after the American Revolution, the lexicographer, editor, and would-be education reformer, Noah Webster noted that in the United States “The constitutions are republican and the laws of education are monarchical.” For Webster, this paradox threatened to destroy the American republic. He and many others believed that education inculcated societal morals that were the foundation of republican government. Americans did not adopt any of Webster’s proposed solutions—namely a public school system—until the nineteenth century. Yet the republic survived anyway. This dissertation argues that Americans’ very desire for geopolitical independence explains their continued deference to European education. Rather than revolutionizing American social order, education became a primary means for reconciling traditional hierarchy with the republican political culture born of revolution. Based on archival research in over twenty libraries in eight states, this dissertation explains the origins of “monarchical education” in colonial America and explores the consequences of its persistence into the early republic. In particular, this dissertation focuses on academies, high-level secondary schools, in the mid-Atlantic and upper South from 1730 to 1810.
    [Show full text]
  • Texts from Revolution Toolbox CK
    Was the American Revolution Avoidable? Online Seminar Texts from the forthcoming National Humanities Center toolbox Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791 Page # David Ramsay, The History of the American Revolution , 1789, excerpt: An 1 American Looks Back at British Victory in the French and Indian War Benjamin Franklin and American clergymen on British victories in the French 2 and Indian War, 1759-1763 Thomas Pownall, The Administration of the Colonies , 1764, selections 3 Parliament [House of Commons] Debates the Stamp Act, February 6, 1765 7 • Grenville, pp. 1-2 • Townshend, pp. 4 and5 • Barré, pp. 5-6 British Merchants’ Warning to Boston Merchants on the eve of the repeal of the 13 Stamp Act, 1766 Benjamin Franklin explains the Americans’ “Ill Humour” to the British, letter to 14 The London Chronicle , Jan. 5-7, 1768 The Massachusetts Circular Letter, 1768 16 John Dickinson, Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer , Letter 1, December 2, 17 1767 Boston Committee of Correspondence, The “Boston Pamphlet,” 1772, Section 20 A: III The Rights of the Colonists as Subjects [of England] Benjamin Franklin, Rules by Which a Great Empire May be Reduced to a Small 27 One , September 1773 First Continental Congress, Petition to the King, Fall 1774 32 First Continental Congress, [Bill of Rights], Fall 1774 35 Second Continental Congress, Olive Branch Petition, July 1775 38 Second Continental Congress, Declaration of the Causes of Taking Up Arms, 41 July 1775 Online Seminar Was the American Revolution Avoidable? 19 Oct. 2010 AAAN AAAMERICAN LLLOOKS BBBACK New York Public Library AT BBBRITISH VVVICTORY in the FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, 1763 DAVID RAMSAYRAMSAY, The History of the American Revolution , 1789.
    [Show full text]